Planetary engine



June 24, 1969 F. w. WANZENBERG ET AL 3,451,380

.LANETAHY ENGINE Filed Feb.

Sheet of s Mmmwl i INVENTORS FREDERICK W WANZENBERG FRITZ W. WANZENBERG ATT YS.

7 June 24, 1969 F. w. WANZENBERG ET AL 3,451,330

PLANETARY ENGINE Filed Feb. 14, 1968 June 24, 1969 F. w. WANZENEBERG ET AL 3,451,380

PLANETARY ENGINE Filed Feb. 14, 1968 Sheet ors United States Patent Oihce 3,451,380 Patented June 24, 1969 US. Cl. 1238 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An internal combustion engine which has rotating planetary pistons reciprocating in radially oriented cylinders which are circumferentially spaced in a main cylinder block mounted between a fuel and air intake head and a supercharger head, with combustion chambers in the piston heads and having pressure differential operated sealing members between the cylinders for engaging the piston surfaces and sealing rings seated in grooves in recesses in which disc-like crank arms are rotatably confined at each side of the main cylinder block which sealing rings are pressure urged into engagement with the peripheral surfaces of the crank arms so as to prevent passage of gases from one cylinder to the next, and with the piston carrying crankshaft having co-axia-l intake and exhaust chambers connected by passageways in the pistons for circulating cooling air, infeed of fuel and supercharged air mixture and discharge of exhaust gases.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 572,649, filed Aug. 10, 1966, now abandoned.

This invention relates to rotary power drive machines and is more particularly concerned with improvements in an internal combustion engine employing rotating, planetary pistons, reciprocating successively in radially oriented cylinders and adapted to use a variety of fuels for producing mechanical power.

The design of internal combustion engines which employ rotatably mounted pistons has been hampered by a number of problems which have proven difiicult of solution with the result that this type engine has not been developed to a point where it can compete successfully with conventional reciprocating piston-type engine designs in most fields of use. Generally inefficient operation, unsatisfactory sealing arrangements, inefiicient conversion of fuel and inadequate cooling have prevented acceptance of this type engine. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide an improved rotary piston engine which will provide abundant mechanical power at low specific fuel consumption, which will have a high horsepower to weight ratio by providing for multiple power strokes per single revolution of the power output shaft, which will have an effective sealing arrangement preventing leakage between cylinders and which will have an adequate cooling systems.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide an improved rotary piston-type engine which has improved arrangements for controlling the fuel intake, for

obtaining properly timed combustion, for efiicient conversion to mechanical power of the gases resulting from I combustion, for effecting a satisfactory seal between the so as to reciprocate in radially oriented cylinders wherein a supercharger is provided which compresses air after it is drawn through concentric ducts in the crankshaft so as to cool heated engine components and recycles the air into the fuel intake portion of the engine to be mixed with fuel for combustion. g

A further object of the invention is to provide in an engine having planetary pistons which are mounted for rotation and reciprocation in radially disposed cylinders combustion chambers in the piston heads which are designed to facilitate complete combustion and to obtain maximum energy conversion from the products of combustion. p

A still further object of the invention is to provide in an engine of the type described a combustion chamber in the piston head which has a cone-shaped section with a nozzle-like passageway providing for fuel entrance and combustion gas exit with a semi-parabolic bottom surface for reflecting combustion gas which impinges thereon directly through the nozzle so as to obtain maximum energy conversion.

Another object of the invention is to provide in an engine having rotating planetary pistons reciprocating in successive radially oriented cylinders an arrangement for sealing between the cylinders which comprises a sealing bar seated in the cylinder wall at the mouth thereof and urged into engagement with the piston surface by differential pressure resulting from exposing opposite faces of the sealing bar which are of unequal area to the high pressure gases present in the cylinders upon fuel combustion.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an engine having planetary pistons carried on a crankshaft for reciprocation in radially oriented cylinders in a main cylinder block which is disposed between an intake head and a supercharger head with the crankshaft having disc-like crank arms which are confined in recesses at opposite sides of the main cylinder head and having grooves in the heads at the sides of the cylinder block in which cylindrical seal forming rings are seated and urged into sealing engagement with the peripheral surfaces of the crank arm discs by pressure of gases in the cylinders acting through ports leading from the cylinders to the bottom of the sealing ring grooves.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the engine structures which are shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a water-air cooled version of a planetary engine which embodies the principal features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1; t t v 7 FIGURE 3 is .an exploded perspective view of the engine of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3A is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of crank action;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary view showing pressure seal which is employed in the engine;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view showing details of the straight pressure seal;

FIGURE 6 is a cross section, taken on line 66 of FIGURE 1, with portions broken away;

FIGURE 7 is a schematic cross-section showing a modified engine embodying a 3-piston, 4-cylinder are rangement;

FIGURE 8 is a schematic cross-section of a modified engine embodying a 4-piston, S-cylinder arrangement; and i FIGURE 9 is a partial section of an engine taken on the same plane as in FIGURE 2 showing a modified a straight crankshaft assembly and fuel and scavenging air infeed arrangement, with parts omitted and other parts shown schematically.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 3, the illustrated engine comprises three main sections 43, 44 and 45, with the middle section constituting the main cylinder block 43 and the end sections constituting the intake head 44 and the exhaust and supercharger head 45, respectively. The intake head 44 and the exhaust and supercharger head 45 are provided with fluid receiving chambers 71 and 72 having inlet and outlet connections at 46 and 47, the chambers 71 and 72 being in communication with each other through the connecting chamber 73 in the main cylinder block 43 and being adapted to receive cooling water or other cooling liquid. A cooling water inlet is provided at 47 in the supercharger head 45 and an outlet at 46 in the intake head 44, the latter leading to a heat exchanger (not shown) or the like.

A crankshaft assembly 74 is supported in the heads 44 and 45 by the main bearings 41 and 42, with the hollow shaft extension 56 at one end thereof constituting a rotating exhaust duct. A driving gear 59 is secured on the other end of the crankshaft assembly 74 which constitutes a power take-off or output member. An impeller 2 is mounted on the crankshaft assembly 74 for operation in the supercharger housing 52 which has an extension 52 providing an air duct 3 connecting with a carburetor and fuel intake assembly 75.

The crankshaft assembly 74, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, includes crank arms in the form of disc members 26 and 27 whose diameters are concentric with the crankshaft ends 28 and 70 and the main bearings 41 and 42. The disc members 26 and 27 forming the crank arms are wide enough or have sufficient dimension in the direction of the axis of rotation to accommodate on the periphery thereof rotating or non-rotating sealing rings 23 which are seated in grooves 21 in the inner walls of the intake head 44 and the exhaust and supercharger head 45, respectively. The sealing rings 23 are located as :lose as possible to the pistons which are carried on the crank pin 30 of the crankshaft assembly 74 so so to prevent passage of gases from one cylinder to the next during operation. The sealing rings 23 are forced against the drum-like peripheral surfaces of the crank arm discs 26 and 27 by gas pressure from the cylinders feeding into orifices 20 in the walls of the two heads 44 and 45 maintained at a mean positive pressure by means of the plenum chambers formed by the grooves 21. The sealing rings 23 (FIGURE 3) are fabricated of graphite or metal with thin cross sections or with a heavier cross section and peripherally spaced notches 24 so that the rings are flexible for insertion into the grooves 21 and so that the inner surface makes contact with the outer peripheral surface of the disc members 26 and 27. The rings 23 are split as shown with suitable clearance between the resulting stepped ends to permit expansion and compression without interference and to accommodate wear. Due to the curved or beveled construction of the inner surfaces of the rings 23 cylinder pressure tending to expand the rings out-ward is effective over roughly half the area of that of the outer surface which is exposed to pressure from the cylinders via plenum chamber 21 with the result that there is a net sealing pressure closing the rings onto the cylindrical surfaces of the crank arm discs 26- and 27 thereby effecting a dynamic seal.

Linear seal assemblies 40 (FIGURES 3 to 6) are provided in the main cylinder block 43 at the mid-point between the cylinder forming chambers for sealing between the chambers 15 and the pistons .10. The seal assemblies 40 each comprise a sealing bar 48, a channellike retainer 39 and a leaf spring 38 ,all assembled and seated in an elongate, L-shaped slot or groove 49 in the Wall sections between the cylinders 15. The sealing bar 48 has an outer beveled edge 68, usually on the high pressure side only, as shown, but in some cases on the low pressure side also. The sealing bar 48 .and the spring member 38 are seated in the channel-like retainer 39 and held therein by the overhanging lip or crimped edge 66 of the retainer 39 with the spring 38 urging the bar 48 outwardly. The assembly 40 is seated in the slot or groove 49 in the cylinder block 43 and retained therein by the lip 76 at the slot entrance which overhangs the lip 66. on the retainer 39. The sealing bar 48 is provided with grooves or recesses 77 on the side which faces the cylinder producing the highest differential pressure so that high pressure gas feeds through the grooves or recesses 77 on the side which faces the cylinder producing the highest differential pressure and exerts force inward on the bottom or innermost surface 69 of the sealing bar 48 and opposed by the same gas pressure acting on the surface 68 which is of lesser area forcing the sealing bar 48 outwardly for engagement with the pistons 10 as they pass from cylinder to cylinder, thus providing a net differential sealing pressure onto the pistons 10 as they pass the assemblies 40.

The crankshaft assembly 74, and the associated pistons 10 which are mounted on the crank pin 30 are provided with passageways and chambers for passage of air and fuel-air mixtures. The intake end 28 (FIGURES 2 and 3) of the crankshaft has an outer annular co-axial duct 1 into which atmosphere air is sucked during operation. The air intake duct 1 communicates with the interior of the hollow crank arm disc 26 which in turn communicates with the one end of the hollow crank pin 30. The crank pin 30 has a center transverse web portion 78 which obstructs the through passage of the air and forces the same out of crank pin holes 57 (FIGURE 4) into holes 61 and voids or chambers 31 in the pistons 10 and back into the other end of the crank pin 30 through the holes 6'1 and 58 and into the outer annular co-axial chamber 36 at the exhaust end 70 of the crankshaft to cool the pistons and absorb heat from the exhaust pipe 56. The air is sucked out of the chamber 36 through holes 37 by the impeller 2 within the housing 52 and forced into the air duct 3 which leads to the carburetor and fuel intake assembly 75.

The intake of air in the carburetor and fuel intake assembly 75 is controlled by the butterfly valve 53 (FIG- URES 2 and 3) which is mounted on shaft 32 with a control arm 32' for aspirating precisely timed fuel injected through the nozzle 51 or air forced through a preset poppet valve 54, which is made up of disc 54, stem 55 and spring 64, in the event air volume exceeds requirements for intake. A venturi tube 55 provides a passage for the air and alternately pulsed air and fuel mixture to the inner co-axial duct 35 formed at the intake end 28 of the crankshaft. The duct 35 has an intake port 9 for feeding the cylinders 15 initially with fresh air for scavenging purposes, and the precisely timed air-fuel mixture to charge the cylinders 15 ahead of the compression stroke. During the compression stroke, the air-fuel mixture following the scavenging air is forced into the combustion chamber 8 in the piston 10 through the mouth 12, duct 14, nozzle 11 and nozzle neck 7. Spark plugs 62 are set in openings 62' in the main cylinder block 43 for igniting the fuel-air mixture at maximum compression with resultant gases moving through the nozzle 7 and out of the mouth 11 of the combustion chamber 8. The combustion chamber 8 is cone-shaped so as to provide a burning progression such as to intensify force out of the nozzle 7. More of the fuel-air mixture is present at the base of the cone so that the center of combustion will be near the center of gravity of the cone and near its base. From this center of combustion some of the burning mass will go directly out through the nozzle 7 and mouth 11 at the velocity of the explosion. Some of the burning mass will strike the conical wall surface which is shaped to reflect the burning mass indirectly out the nozzle neck 7 and mouth '11 at a slightly lesser velocity than the initial explosion wave front. Some of the burning mass will explode towards the back of the combustion chamber and be reflected by the semi-parabolic surface 13 at the base of the chamber, such surface having a general contour approximating a hemisphere, and preferably having a contour which results from holding the reflectors centers, which are parabolic to a diameter equal to the diameter of the nozzle neck 7. The portion of the reflector 13 from this diameter out to the conical surface has a profile such that a wave front coming from the center" of explosion to the reflector surface 13 will be reflected out of the nozzle neck 7 without further reflection from any other surface. Since the inlet duct 14 is at right angles to the incident explosion wave front very little combustion energy will leave the chamber 8 through the duct '14. The center lines of the combustion chamber 8 and nozzle 7 are parallel with the intake duct 14 and so directed in relation to the center lines of the pistons 10 that the best conversion of combustion kinetic energy into mechanical power is obtained. The kinetic energy is directed against the reversing contour of cylinder 15 so that maximum velocity of the burning mass can be absorbed, ideally being almost feet per second pressure at the exhaust port 17 in the piston wall at the end of the expansion stroke. After expansion the scavenging fresh air entering cylinders 15 will force the burned gases out exhaust port 17, since at maximum compression stroke both intake port 9 and exhaust port 17 are exposed by movement of the parallel sides of the piston members. As soon as exhaust port 17 is blocked by piston movement the airfuel mixture enters the cylinder and is compressed into the combustion chamber Where it is ignited and expanded. The exhaust gases and some scavenging air will enter exhaust port '17 and move out the co-axial exhaust pipe 56.

In the operation of the engine air is drawn into the coaxial chamber 1 at the end 28 of the crankshaft assembly 74 and travels through the piston 10 to the co-axial chamber 36 surrounding the exhaust duct 56 by operation of the impeller 2. The air enters the housing 52 through the opening 37 and is forced through the duct 3 to the carburetor assembly 75 where it mixes with fuel injected through nozzle 51 under the control of butterfly valve 53. The fuel-air mixture passes through venturi tube and the inlet 35 to the cylinder 15 Where it is compressed by rotation of the piston into the combustion chamber 8 for ignition by spark plug 62. The exploding gases discharge through the nozzle 7 against the curved end wall of the cylinder and force the piston 10 to retract with resultant application of torque producing rotation of the crankshaft assembly 74. The cylindrical seals 23 and linear seals 40 prevent the gases from escaping from the cylinder '15 by contact with the crank arm discs 26 and 27 and the pistons 10. The engine is cooled by the circulation of air through the crankshaft and piston assembly under the action of the impeller 2 and also by cooling liquid circulated through the chambers 71 and 72 in the two heads.

A modified crankshaft arrangement is illustrated in FIG- URE 3A where a fixed ring gear 45' is provided for cooperation with a planetary assembly 80 on the crank pin 30' and the crankshaft end 70 to provide smoother operation of the crankshaft assembly by positive articulation of the piston member within its rotational orbit. This arrangement, which may be incorporated in the design, serves to reduce wear of the piston and cylinder members.

Modified piston and cylinder arrangements are illustrated in FIGURES 7 and 8. In FIGURE 7 a three-piston 110, four-cylinder 115 arrangement is shown schematically. The fuel-air mixture intake port 109 is located as shown in the intake crank arm disc 126 at one side of the piston assembly 110 and the exhaust port 117 is located in the crank arm disc 127 as shown at the opposite side of the piston assembly 110 so that the rotating ports in conjunction with the valving effect of the pistons 110 provide proper timing of scavenging, intake and exhaust intervals. A combustion chamber 108 is located in each piston head with mouth entrance 112, as indicated, the same as in the form shown in FIGURE 4. In FIGURE 8 a four piston 210 and five-cylinder 215 arrangement is shown schematically With intake port located at 209 in the crank arm disc 226 and exhaust port 217 in the crank arm disc 227 and With combustion chambers 208 in the piston heads having an entrance mouth 2:12.

A further modification is illustrated in the partial sectional view shown in FIGURE 9 which involves, basically, interchanging the location of the impeller 302 and the drive gear 359 so that the impeller 302 is on the fuel intake side of the machine and the power take-01f and air intake duct 301 are at the opposite side of the machine. Also separate infeed of the scavening air and the fuel-air mixture is provided for. Duct 305 leads from the carburetor assembly 375 to the fuel intake duct 335 while duct 305' bypasses the carburetor assembly 375 and connects with smaller co-axial duct 335 inside the duct 335 for feeding air for scavening into the cylinders via the crankshaft assembly 374. Scavening air is drawn into duct 301 and passes through the crankshaft and piston assembly to the exhaust port 337 by operation of impeller 302 which delivers the greater portion of this air to the duct 305 for passage into the cylinders where it is followed by the fuel-air mixture entering through the duct 305 with the scavening air being exhausted through the exhaust duct 356 which is at one end of the crankshaft assembly. Some of the air from impeller 302 goes through the carburetor assembly 375 to mix with the fuel delivered through the nozzle 351.

While particular materials and specific details of construction are referred to in describing the forms of the invention illustrated in the drawings, it will be understood that other suitable materials and equivalent structural details may be resorted to within the spirit of the invention.

We claim:

1. A planetary engine comprising a main cylinder block disposed between an intake head and a supercharger head, with passageways forming a fluid flow connection between the same, a crankshaft journaled in the intake head and the supercharger head and having disc members forming crank arms with a crank pin member extending between said crank arm discs and planetary pistons mounted on said crank pin, said main cylinder block having radially oriented cylinders in which the pistons reciprocate as they rotate about the axis of the crankshaft, said intake and supercharger heads having recesses for confining the crank arm discs at opposite sides of the cylinder block, and sealing means between the cylinders which is operative to prevent movement of gases between the cylinders as the pistons move into and out of the same.

2. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 1 and said sealing means comprising sealing ring members pressed into engagement with the peripheral surfaces of said crank arm discs, said heads having grooves in which said sealing ring members are seated.

3. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 2 and said heads having passageways connecting the cylinders with the sealing ring grooves so that the sealing rings are urged into engagement with the crank arm discs by pressure of gases present in the cylinders.

4. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 1 and said sealing means comprising sealing bars disposed between the cylinders, the cylinder walls having grooves at the mouth thereof in which the sealing bars are seated and means for urging the sealing bars into engagement with the piston surfaces as the pistons move past the same.

5. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 4 and the means for urging the sealing bars into engagement with the piston surfaces comprising a resilient member disposed in the bar receiving groove beneath the sealing bar.

6. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 1 and said sealing means comprising sealing bars disposed at the mouth of each cylinder, the walls of the cylinders having grooves in which the sealing bars are seated, said sealing bars having notches in a side wall thereof for permitting passage of high pressure gas to the bottom of the groove in which each sealing bar is seated, and each sealing bar having a bottom surface with a greater area than the oppositely disposed surface which engages the piston so that the sealing bar is urged by differential pressure against the piston surface.

7. A planetary engine comprising a main cylinder block disposed between an intake head and a supercharger head with fluid flow connections between the same, a crankshaft assembly journaled in the intake head and the supercharger head and having axially spaced disc-like crank arms With a crank pin member extending between said crank arm discs and a planetary piston assembly mounted on said crank pin, said main cylinder block having radially oriented circumferentially spaced chambers forming cylinders in which the pistons reciprocate as they rotate with the crankshaft about the axis of the crankshaft, said intake and supercharger heads having recesses for confining the crank arm discs at opposite sides of the cylinder block, sealing means which is operative to prevent movement of gases between the cylinders as the pistons move into and out of the cylinders, and coaxial ducts at opposite ends of the crankshaft assembly for infeed of scavenging air and fuel, and for discharge of exhaust gases and co-operating with passageways in said cylinder block to form fluid connections between the cylinder head and the intake head and supercharger head which are disposed on opposite sides of said cylinder head.

8. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 7, and said crankshaft assembly and said piston assembly having passageways for circulating scavenging air entering the intake ducts and an impeller in said supercharger head which is mounted on said crankshaft assembly for drawing scavening air into the engine at one end of the crankshaft assembly and forcing the same through said passageways to the exhaust discharge duct at the other end of the crankshaft assembly.

9. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 8 and separate ducts and passageways at the fuel intake side of the engine for receiving scavening air and fuel, and means for injecting fuel into the fuel receiving duct.

10. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 7 and means for circulating scavenging air through the cylinders including co-axial ducts in said crankshaft assembly.

11. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 7 and said pitson assembly having piston heads with combustion chambers therein which extend radially and have a coneshaped section with a nozzle-like entrance which opens into the bottom of the associated cylinder when the piston is at the end of a compression stroke.

12. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 11 and said combustion chambers having a curved inner wall which is operative to reflect gases resulting from combustion directly through the nozzle-like entrance.

13. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 7 and said planetary piston assembly comprising a plurality of piston heads carried on said crank pin and each having a combustion chamber with an entrance passageway opening opposite the bottom wall of a cylinder when the piston is at maximum compression position, the cylinder bottom wall having a contour which substantially matches the contour of the piston head, and the entrance passageway having a neck of reduced cross section forming a nozzle for infeed of the fuel-air mixture and discharge of the combustion gases.

14. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 7 and said planetary piston assembly comprising a plurality of piston heads each having a combustion chamber with a cone shaped section and an entrance which is in the form of a nozzle for infeed of the fuel-air mixture and the discharge of combustion gases, the combustion chamber having a bottom surface which is parabolic so as to reflect gaseous exploding fuel products in a path directly through the nozzle.

15. A planetary engine as set forth in claim 14 and a relatively small diameter duct forming a second passageway into the combustion chamber which is parallel with the axis of the nozzle entrance and is located adjacent said nozzle entrance.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 553,086 1/1896 Wheildon 103-130 3,282,496 11/1966 Radziwill et al 230- 3,299,866 1/1967 Birk 103130 X 3,329,132 7/1967 Castelet 123-8 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM E. WAYNER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 103130; 230-145 

